Various methods are known in the prior art for controlling the operating mode in particular of hybrid vehicles as a function, inter alia, of route-specific parameters.
By way of example, EP 1 256 476 A2 discloses an energy management system for an electric or hybrid vehicle, in which application-specific information of a navigation system is checked both with respect to the current vehicle position and with respect to the further journey conditions in a defined manner, and different control strategies (for example with regard to operation of the battery) are carried out as a function of this. The deliberate application-specific checking of the route information has the disadvantage, however, that this information cannot be used for other systems, or can be used by them only with additional complexity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,723 B1 discloses a method for operation of a hybrid vehicle in which the extent of the respective use of the internal combustion engine and/or electric motor is determined, on a navigation-supported basis, as a function of an overall journey duration which is predetermined by the driver, and in the case of which, furthermore, battery charging cycles are selected taking into account the respective climbing and descending route sections to be expected. A method and a device for driving a hybrid vehicle are known from DE 101 28 758 A1, in which the proportion of the electric-motor drive is controlled taking account not only of the battery state of charge but also of a height profile calculated by means of a navigation system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,522 B1 discloses a method for controlling a hybrid vehicle, in which route planning is carried out even without any destination being entered on the basis of a height profile and with a probability distribution for reaching possible route points being calculated, and with traffic information also being taken into account, and the operation of a regenerative braking system and of the internal-combustion engine is controlled as a function of this.
A method for controlling the operating mode in vehicles with hybrid drives is known from DE 100 35 027 A1, in which the driving power demand is estimated with reference to the route profile, which is recorded in a navigation-based manner in the form of resistance-to-travel parameters (such as the gradient, road surface, head wind, etc.), in order to adapt the operating mode more reliably. The route profile is used as a parameter in addition to criteria such as the driving dynamics, the driver behavior and the electrical drive power available. Operation of the internal combustion engine, the electric motor, or a mixture of the two is selected to power the vehicle, depending on the result.
However, in the already known methods, the route profile is in each case taken into account only in a manner which can be used in the specified application or only for the respective application.